We don't stop moving because we get older,
We get old when we stop moving.
I was hiding in the background on a Zoom meeting recently and someone singled me out to wish me well on my upcoming retirement. I turned my camera on and said thank you. Then others piled in, including advice from a retired judge, he said "get yourself a retirement dog, so that the dog takes you for a walk on a regular basis." His point is well taken, it would be easy to settle in and hardly leave the house. We need to keep moving.
I didn't move much in my 20's, and it showed. In my late 20's I dropped some weight, joined a gym, lost more weight, started running, swimming, and bought a nice bike. A manipulative boss talked me into registering for a triathlon on my 30th birthday. I ran for about a decade. There are excuses why I stopped running. Between well worn knees and residual nerve damage my running days are past, though I still miss it at times. There is a magic to floating along with your body in rhythm. The simplicity of moving under your own power.
I do enjoy a nice long walk. When the weather is mild and dry, I love getting out for a nice ramble. The climate here is not perfect, the winters tend to be wet and colder, the summers hot and humid. We are surrounded by water, if the temperature is above freezing, it it humid here.
In my Wednesday Ws, I often report going to the gym. The community center for the condo, is right behind the building we are in; a five minute walk from where I am sitting. A few years ago, the association built a new fitness center. It is not a weight lifters gym. Mostly treadmills, bikes, and ellipticals, a solid line of machines; very few free weights. The younger - fitter residents most likely go elsewhere.
The treadmills have become a part of my pledge to keep moving. I take my IPad and watch YouTube videos for an hour. If the weather is nice I will walk outside, and I allow myself a rest day once a week or so.
Get out and move, take walk, ride a bike, swim, run if you can. The important thing is to keep moving, at our age if we stay still to long they call the undertaker.
It's too easy to slip into a comfortable chair and remain there - bad for the back, hips, heart, though. We've just started Pilates. It caused much mirth as the dogs wanted to join in.
ReplyDeleteAlways let the dogs take you for a walk.
DeleteThe advice to keep moving is wise. My exercise levels are poor but I do keep moving. I think your climate would be better than New York's?
ReplyDeleteThe winters are shorter and milder in DC, than in NYC.
DeleteI try to walk at least four or five days a week, and drag Carlos along sometimes. We have some of our best chats while walking the neighborhoods and woods around our house.
ReplyDeleteWalking is great thinking time.
DeleteI agree about keeping moving, and my aunt and uncle got dogs when they retired and said it was the best thing they did. I love nice walks too, still run, but more in the warmer months. Matter of fact Christmas Eve, I took a nice walk around 1:45 am after everyone was in bed. Cool crisp, and what a dark star filled sky. Was rather very beautiful and one of "those moments."
ReplyDeleteThere is an old joke, the doc said to walk five miles a day. The guy did. The doc called 30 days later to ask how it was going, and the guy said, great, I have never felt better, but when can I go home, I am 150 miles away.
Delete"Walking is a man's best medicine." ~ Hippocrates
ReplyDeleteGood advice
DeleteAs you know, I will rarely pass up the opportunity for a walk.
ReplyDeletebad timing for me this week: I am more or less sitting all day. Next week back at home I get back to regular moving
ReplyDeleteNext week you can make up for it.
DeleteEvery time, like today, when one medico or another makes an appointment for me a year down the line I always say "I'll try to live that long."
ReplyDelete